Field cooking apparatus



Oct. 20, 1936. J. A. H. MYERS 2,058,172

- FIELD COOKING APPARATUS I Filed Dec. 20, 1933 Patented Oct. 20, i936UNITED STATES PATENT oFF cE 4 Claims.

fire. Further objects are to provide a portablefolding apparatus of thischaracter, either including or not including a fire box; to arrange inan improved manner for the accommodation of cooking vessels and abroiler in an apparatus of the fire-box type; to facilitate the cookingof steaks in a double broiler to different degrees in different partsthereof, and to arrange for swinging a broiler aside from over a firebuilt upon the ground.

' Of the accompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a perspective view of aportable folding cooker of the fire-box type embodying one form of myinvention and shown in extended or operative condition.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section of the same in collapsed or foldedcondition.

Figs. 3 and 4 are perspective views of another form of myinventionadapted for use with a fire built upon the ground and showing said formrespectively in extended and collapsed conditions. I

Fig. 5 is a perspective view showing a modified supporting foot for thelatter form of the invention.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view showing a third, 5 form of the invention.

Referring at first to Figs. 1 and 2, i0 is a supporting base in theform. of a rectangular fire box, adapted toset with its bottom directlyon the ground, for containing and burning solid fuel such as wood, coalbriquettes or charcoal and having its vertical side and end wallsperforated the top edges thereof, are mounted a pair of grillsupportingstandards l3, each of which has its lower end pivoted on a pin llcarried by ears on a bracket l5 attached to the box wall, the hingemember of the standard l3 being formed upon a 6 portion l6 of saidstandard, which is bent at right angles to the main or upright portion.to allow folding over of the latter parallel with the plane of the boxwhen the apparatus is collapsed. I Each of these standards comprises apair of bars ll, l8 integrally connected with each other at both endsand separated by a longitudinal slot l9. The bar l 'l is formed with aseries of upwardly-open hooks 20 located at difierent heights forreceiving an end rod of the grill or broiler and supporting the latterat different heights above the fire, so that the standard l3 constitutesa rack with a series of alternative grill-supporting members. The bar 18acts as a guard or retainer for the grill rod. The slot I9 is extendedinto the laterallybent, hinged-end portion ii to facilitate folding. Thenotches in the hooks 20 of the front-end rack I3 are rectangular or flatbottomed to prevent turning of a square-section handle stem on thegrill, while those at the rear end are round bottomed to permit turningof a circular-section stem on the rear end of the grill. A stop member15' on each of the brackets l5 preventslovere swinging of thecorresponding rack l3- in its upright position.

2| is a grill, here shown as a double broiler, with lower and upper gridsections 22, 22 spaced apart to receive one or more steaks etc. betweenthem and connected by hinges 24 at one edge and a separable fastenerorcatch 25 at the opposite edge. On the rear edge of the grid section 22is fixed a projecting stem or trunnion rod 26 adapted to be received inany one of the hooks 20 of the corresponding rack l3 and to turn thereinwhen it .is desired to reverse the broiler. The length of said rod 26 issumcient to include the length of the fire-box shelf l2, and the lengthof the grill body corresponds with that of the upwardly-open portion ofsaid fire box.

From the front edge'of the grid section 22 projects a stem or handle rod21 adapted to be received in any one of the hooks 20 of the front rackl3 and prevented from rotation when occupying the notch of said hook byreason of the complementalrectangular shape of said rod and notch. Saidrod has a transverse handle-pin 2B fixed at its outer end and atransverse stop-pin 28 fixed at its inner end. The pin 28 is of toolarge diameter to pass through the slot is of the front standard I! andtherefore may act as a stop in connection'withthe standard, or it could,if desired, be made smaller and supplemented'with a stem stop washer 3 Isuch as that hereinafter described in'connection with Figs. 3 and 4.. Itis the grid section 22 and is longitudinally slidable mounted in-aU-shaped bracket 30 fastened to on the grill body to extend the handlerod for use as indicated in Fig. 1, or to collapse it for folding asindicated in Fig. 2.

A stop button or flange disk 3| on the outer side of the rear bracket I3is non-removably fastened on the trunnion stem 26 after the parts havebeen assembled, the diameter of said button being too great to passthrough the open spaces of the rack. By this means and by reason of therelation of parts at the front end, the utensil 2| is permanentlyassociated with the racks I3.

The fire-box l0 acts as a supporting base for holding the standards l3in either an upright or a folded position, and said standards, togetherwith the hinges formed by the members l4, l5, constitute a pair ofsupports for the grill, having slotted members l6 which are offset inthe folded positions of the standards (and in this case also in theupright position) permitting the folding of the latter withoutdisconnecting the grill.

In the use of this apparatus, the shelf l2 acts as a stove top for theheating of cooking vessels such as pots and pans which it is not desiredto expose directly to the fire. Broiling, toasting and like open-firecooking operations as well as heating in vessels may be performed uponthe grill 2 I. The provision for raising and lowering said'grill bypassing the stem rods 26 and 21 along the slots l9 from one pair ofhooks 20 to another and supporting them in said hooks at diiferentdistances from the fire greatly adds to the convenience of thesegrilling operations, while the fact i that the grill is permanentlyassociated with its racks l3 prevents the loss, theft or contaminationof the separate parts. When it is desired to reverse the grill withoutchanging its height above the fire, said grill may be tilted by liftingits squared handle rod 21 out ofthecorresponding hook notch, turnedwhile its trunnion rod 26 is supported in the rear hook notch, and thehandle rod 21 then lowered into the front notch to hold the grill in thereversed position.

When the apparatus is not in use, it may be collapsed by lowering thegrill 2| upon the fire box I, sliding the handle rod 21 for the greaterportion of its length inwardly under the grill body to decrease thetotal length, and folding the racks l3 by swinging them toward eachother to bring their upright portions one over the other above thedepressed grill and parallel with the plane of the grill and fire box asindicated in Fig. 2, the rods 26 and 21 then occupying the extensions ofthe slots IS in the bent portions |6 of the racks. In this position thehorizontal racks are spaced from the grill and adapted to act as ahandle whereby the apparatus may be manually transported.

Figs. 3 and 4 illustrate a simplified form of the invention, omittingthe fire box and adapted for use with an open fire built upon the groundor for use over a small fireplace on the ground. Inthis case, standardsor racks 3 similar to those previously described in having the hookedbars H with hooks 20 at different heights, guard bars l8 and verticalslots l9, are provided with pointed lower extremities or feet 32, 33constituting independent base members for impaling in the ground, thefront foot 32 being integral with and horizontally oifset from the bodyof its rack and manently in association with the front rack. Thelowermost hook 20 of the front rackis shown with an inclined rectangularnotch 2|] for holding the broiler with its plane in an inclined positionto I cook steaks to a. greater extent at one edge than at the other sothat rare and well-done portions may be provided in the same steak. Theswiveling of the rear standard foot 33 permits the broiler to be swungaside from over the fire on pulling up the front standard and reimpalingit in the ground in the new position.

In this form of the invention, the upper ends of the racks l3 areprovided with portions 35 bent toward each other at right-angles and theslots |9 are extended into these bent portions. This permits theapparatus to be collapsed by folding the front and rear racks l3respectively over and under the grill, after turning one of themon itsrod, while the grill is shortened by' sliding its handle rod 21inwardly, for convenient transportation, as indicated in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 shows a modified foot structure for the form of inventionillustrated in Figs. 3 and 4, consisting of bowed metal strips one ofwhich is adapted to turn upon a pin 34 upon the rack l3 to provide legs36 in two planes for supporting the apparatus on rocky or hard ground.

The form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 6 resembles that shown inFigs. 1 and 2, except that the fire box In is provided with base legs 31and a grate bottom 38, the rack standards I3, straight throughout, arepermanently fastened at their lower ends upon the end walls of the firebox in upright positions instead of being hinged, and a single insteadof a double grill or broiler 2| B is employed ,(although a double onecould be used) said grill having fixed thereto at its front end a short,squared rod 21 with a handle 2'! shaped and sized so that it connot passthrough the slot l9, and having its rear supporting rod 26 permanentlyassociated with the rear racks by means of the retaining button 3| whichprevents the grill from being stolen. The fire-box ends and thestandards l3 together constitute a pair of fixed grill supports on thebase formed by the legs 31 and their connecting fire-box structure.Cooking vessels are shown supported on the shelf or stove top l2. Acooker of this form is adapted for permanent installation at recreationgrounds or for commercial use.

It will be understood that various other modifications could be madewithout departing from the scope of my invention as defined in theclaims.

I claim:

l. A collapsible cooking apparatus comprising a pair of racks eachhaving a corresponding laterally bent end portion, a closed longitudinalslot terminating in 'said bent portion, and a corresponding series ofvertically spaced notches formed in a sidewall of said slot, and a grillhaving a supporting stem at each end extending through said slots andbeing movable longitudinally thereof whereby said grill maybe verticallyadjusted on said racks and when said stems are in said bent portions theracks may be folded upon said grill, the grill stems having meanscoacting bled with the grill and ioldable over the grill to collapse theapparatus. said means comprising inwardly ofiset upper ends and a closedlongitudinal slot extending into each'oi said ends,

means for supporting said grill at diflerent vertical adjustmentscomprisinga series of verticallyspaced, stem-holding notches in eachslot, and respective ground-engaging independent base members at thelower ends of said standards for supporting them on the ground in anupright 10 position.

JOSEPH A. H. MYERS.

